Delicious City Philly

Delicious City Philly

James Beard Winner Jesse Ito: The 9-Year Journey to His First Award

Jun 29, 2026 · 48 min · 10 segments

It's tradition: if a Philly chef wins a James Beard Award, you already know they're coming on the pod to tell us everything. Fresh off his Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic win, Jesse Ito joins us to talk about…

It's tradition: if a Philly chef wins a James Beard Award, you already know they're coming on the pod to tell us everything. Fresh off his Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic win, Jesse Ito joins us to talk about the moment it all paid off after years of Beard nominations. He lets us in on how he's reshaping perceptions of Japanese cuisine at Royal Izakaya, and taking that reinvention a step further with Dancerobot. And we ask about the secret to scoring a seat at the hottest omakase in the city… Plus: other Philly chefs and restaurants at the Beard awards, everyone's Best Bite of the week, Eli's highlights from Spain, and we dish on the latest events and pop-ups in Philly, complete with hot dogs and donuts. - 00:00 Eli's back from Spain! - 05:00 Chef Jesse Ito of Royal Izakaya & Sushi and Dancerobot - 06:04 The moment he won Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic - 17:50 A new take on Japanese cuisine - 23:30 Best Bites - 35:23 The Bear: what we loved and what's BS - 39:00 The Dish: Food Events, Chef Collabs, Philly Pop-ups And of course, we could not do this without our amazing partners who are as passionate about food and drink as we are: - If your restaurant or company wants to be in the headlines for all the right reasons, click here to discover how Peter Breslow Consulting and PR can take your business to the next level - Social media and digital content are two of the most important things you can create for your brand. Check out Breakdown Media, a one stop shop for all of your marketing needs. Listen to us on Spotify Listen to us on Apple Watch us on YouTube Connect with us on Instagram, and share your eating adventures by tagging us in your posts so we can talk about them on air.

It's tradition: if a Philly chef wins a James Beard Award, you already know they're coming on the pod to tell us everything. Fresh off his Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic win, Jesse Ito joins us to talk about…

Catching-Up & Spanish Travels0:00 – 2:17

Marisa MagnattaHost

0:00

Welcome back to our European traveler.

0:03

Well, thank you very much.

0:04

Slightly more of a tan slash freckles slash burn on my ginger skin.

0:11

But thank you.

0:12

Where

Marisa MagnattaHost

0:12

were you?

0:13

Oh, man, we had a great trip.

0:14

Started in Madrid, went to San Sebastian, then drove to Barcelona, spent three nights in Barcelona.

0:21

Lovely city.

0:23

And then Valencia.

0:24

0:26

The home of Paella.

0:28

Oh.

0:29

That's where it started, and we found this incredible place.

0:32

Did you

Marisa MagnattaHost

0:32

find the guy who started it?

0:34

I think so.

0:35

I think we found the place.

0:36

It's been there over 100 years.

0:38

Actually, I found it because I remembered a clip that I saw Jose Andres mention.

0:44

This is his favorite place, right? Favorite place in the world for Paella.

0:48

They do it over wood.

0:50

They probably have like 20 Paella going at one time.

0:55

They're not small.

0:56

They are a good two and a half feet across.

0:59

They say that's for two people.

1:00

Minimum two people, they said.

1:03

So we got there.

1:04

There's a big line out the door and called Casa Carmela.

1:10

And it'd been there for over 100 years, as it stated on their linen napkins.

1:15

And so I didn't really know what to expect.

1:18

Be start off a little appetizer, you know, pick what you want.

1:21

They have other stuff besides paella, but obviously we're there for the, for the, for the main, for the big show.

1:27

Right.

1:28

So, you know, you don't know what to expect.

1:30

You can actually order it wet if you want it, but obviously that's not what I'm going for.

1:35

Is that

Marisa MagnattaHost

1:36

like soupy?

1:37

I guess they call it humido, you know, just like more wet.

1:41

Like

1:41

a

1:42

gumbo? I guess, yeah, like somewhat thick.

1:46

It's not like soup.

1:48

I think that's how Jose Andres does it here at, what's the one right here? In Old City.

1:55

1:56

Not Jose Andres.

Marisa MagnattaHost

1:57

Jose.

Marisa MagnattaHost

1:58

I've been talking about Jose Garces this whole time.

Marisa MagnattaHost

2:00

Amada.

Marisa MagnattaHost

2:01

No, no.

2:01

Jose Andres was the one that said this is his favorite in the world.

2:05

Okay.

2:06

Not talking about Amada.

2:07

Yes.

Marisa MagnattaHost

2:08

Period.

Marisa MagnattaHost

2:09

Marisa MagnattaHost

2:09

Yes.

Marisa MagnattaHost

2:10

Amada.

2:11

To me, Jose's in some jet lag.

2:12

They literally got in

Marisa MagnattaHost

2:14

about

2:14

24 hours ago.

Marisa MagnattaHost

2:15

Something else happened while you were away.

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